Dust suppression A dusty cabin can cause major problems for the machine operator.
Giving operators a breath of fresh air LSM TECHNOLOGY MANAGING DIRECTOR PETER WOODFORD EXPLAINS WHY HIS COMPANY’S QCABAIR CORE MIXING PLENUM PROVIDES THE BEST DUST PROTECTION IN THE INDUSTRY.
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here is a belief that enclosed cabins of fixed and mobile plants provide protection against workers’ exposure to harmful airborne particulate and fibre. However, studies have shown that allowable personal exposure limits (PEL) inside a cabin can be far greater than the external operating environment. Statistics and reports have revealed that respirable disease and other debilitating health effects are on the rise due to workplace exposure to airborne particulate and fibre. LSM Technology details this in a recent technical white paper, Breathing Easy – Airborne Particulate/Fibre Exposure of Enclosed Cabins of Mobile and Fixed Plant. It is not only related to workers in open environments but also operators in enclosed cabins of fixed and mobile plant. LSM Technology’s QCABAIR (patent pending) Core Mixing Plenum integrates the Cabin External Air Pressuriser and Recirculation Filtration Units to create a compact system that ensures the cabin
environment not only meets but exceeds Australian and international standards. LSM Technology managing director Peter Woodford says a clean cabin and a more comfortable, healthier and safer working environment means happier operators, enhanced concentration and alertness, as well as greater productivity. “We have come a long way in terms of cabin technology, especially when you consider that none of the earliest machines even had cabins – operators were working out in the open,” Woodford tells Safe to Work. “Some of the earlier machines only included cabins as protection from the weather or as protection for the operator if the machine rolled over. “With the evolution of enclosed cabins the next development was when air conditioning was installed in the cabins, but in many cases the air conditioning was bringing more dust and particles into the cabin than there would have been without it. “That’s why we have worked to make the QCABAIR as safe and comfortable for the operator as possible.”
SAFETOWORK.COM.AU 28 SEP-OCT 2021
LSM has long been a leader in providing compliant cabin pressurisation and filtration solutions that are field tested and certified by occupational health and safety (OH&S) regulators, including the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy with a joint field trail/report (RESPA trial 2009) on an excavator operated at a sandstone quarry. The company also works alongside and represents key dust mitigation technology manufacturer, Sy-Klone International. LSM was the first dealer in the world to introduce the Sy-Klone RESPA cabin pressurisation and filtration technology to the mining, quarrying and extraction industries. It has been Sy-Klone’s master dealer for the Australasian region since 2008. The QCABAIR Core Mixing Plenum combines the Sy-Klone RESPA units to mix the filtered external and recirculation air in a single compact mounting system. Woodford says LSM endeavours to take advantage of the most advanced
